Automatic feeding device



Aug. 9, 1955 s. RUBIN AUTOMATIC FEEDING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledSept. 4, 1952 INVENTOR #90 Z R 14$ 2' n ATTORNEYS AUTOMATIC FEEDINGDEVICE Filed Sept. 4, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet I2 INVENTOR 80X R uZz'n BY MATTORNEYS Aug. 9, 1955 s. RUBIN AUTOMATIC FEEDING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet3 Filed Sept. 4, 1952 WAT Ah INVENTOR A902 Bu Z111 Ill. |||L \IW 3 E. i.Q E m N \Q wk MW K TIN Q.\ Om \k ATTORN E Y5 Aug. 9, 1955' s. RUBIN2,714,950

AUTOMATIC FEEDING DEVICE Filed Sept. 4, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORol Ru} in T77- ATTORNEYS Aug. 9, 1955 s. RUBIN 2,714,950

AUTOMATIC FEEDING DEVICE Filed Sept. 4, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 59 3 7 E7a I69 I l i I I INVENTOR ATTORNE Y3 United States Patent *OfiFice2,714,950 Patented Aug. 9, 1955 AUTOMATIC FEEDIIVG DEVICE SolomonRubin,"Monmouth,N.J. Application September '4, $1952,'SerialNo. 307,807

' Claims. 1 c1. 198-37 This invention relatesto an automaticfeedingand/or automatic conveying or conveyor'device for poultry or the like.

An object of this inventionkis to provide a feeding device wherebyapredetermined quantityof feed will always be availablexto poultry.

Another object of this invention isto provide a feeding deviceembodyinga hopper with a feeding trough extending from the hopper, and :meansoperable when the feed in the trough reaches a predetermined low levelfor automatically filling e the 'trough.

A further object-of this'invention is to provide ran improved reciprocalconveying meansfonconveying i the feed from the hopper to an'd alongthetrough so that the fowl feedingfrom thet rough will not besinjured andthe feed will not be spilled out of the .trough, the return or idlingstroke of the conveyor serving to level the feed in the troughu Afurther object of this invention is to provide a feeding device of thiskind wherein the trough may be extended for any desired distancetfromthehopper.

Afurther object ofithis invention is 'to provide an improved means forswingingrthel conveyor blades i from operative to inoperativeposition.

A further object of this invention is to provide :an improved means .forintermittently feedingthe material from the hopper to the trough 'on 1the return *orrinoperative stroke of the .conveyingmeans.

With the rabove an'd other objects in view,.my invention consists in thearrangement,rcorribination and: details of construction disclosed inthedrawings and specification, and then more particularly .pointed xoutin i thewappended claims.

In the drawings Figure lis a detailed si'de elevation,tpartlyrbrokenaway, of an automatic poultry feedingudevice constructed according to anembodiment v of'this invention,

Figure 2is afragmentary transverse=sectioni'through the hopper,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional iview takenc'on the line 3-3 'ofFigure12,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional viewttaken onthe line 4-4 of Figure3,

Figure 5 is :a sectionalviewtakem on 1theuline'i5-5"df either Figure 1or 'Figure '3,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary.sectionalwiewtakenonzthe line 6-6 of Figure 5,

Figure 7 is afragmentaryasectionalaview takenronlthe line 7-7ofFigurefS,

Figure 8 is afragmentary sectional view taken onwthe line 8- =8 ofFigure 2,

Figure 9 is a fragmentaryilongitudinalisection"through thetrough,showing the conveyor blades. in operative or conveying position,

Figure 10 is a fragmentary sectional viewwtaken on the line 10-10 ofFiguret6,

.Figurell is a diagrammatic view, ,partly in ,section, showing theautomatic switch for the conveyonoperator,

r reciprocation of slide bar 43.

Figure 12 is a fragmentary sectional .view taken on the line 12-12 ofFigure 2,

Figure 13 is a fragmentary side elevation of the adjustable legs for 1the hopper,

Figure 14 is a sectional view taken on the line 14-14 of Figure .13.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral designates generally a hopperwhich is supported by means of vertically adjustable legs 21. The legs21 are of angle shape and engage in loops 22 and are secured in theloops 22 by means of set screws 23.

.A feeding trough generally designated as 24 extends from the hopper 20and projects therebeneath. The .trough 24 is supported by means of legs25 engaging through keepers or loops 26 which are secured toplates 27,and the legs 25 are vertically adjusted by means of set screws 28. Thehopper 20 is formedwith vertical side walls 29 and downwardly convergentwallsJSfi, with an inverted V-shaped bottom wall 31, having openings 32.'The material, such as feed or the like, is placed within the'hopper 20and this material is regulated as to thefiowing thereof through thedischarge openings 32, as will behereinafter described.

.Aninverted V-shaped baffle 33 extends between the end walls 34 and 35of the hopper 2t), and is firmly secured therebetween. A pair of upperand lower horizontally disposed guidebars 36 and 37 respectively ex tendthrough the wall '35, and bafile 33 is secured to the upper guide bar 36by fastening devices 33. The inner ends of thewguide bars 36 and 37 areconnected together by means of a connecting bar 39 which is secured tothe guide bars 36 and 37 by fastening devices 40.

The guide bars 36 and 37. project from the end wall .35 which is thefront end wall, and are securedto the end wall 35 by means ofangle-shaped plates 41 which are secured by fastening means 42 to thefront end wall 35. .A pair of conveyor operating slide bars 43 and 44are disposed between the guide bars 36 and 37, and bar 43 has fixed tothe end thereof projecting from the hopper 20, a verticallydisposedchannel member-45.

.A crankshaft 46 connected with a gear reduction unit 47 ,ofconventional construction has the crank pin 48 thereof slidably disposedin the channel of channel member so that rotation of thecrankshaft46will efiect Channel member 45 .is secured to slide bar 43, as shown inFigure 4, by means .of fastening devices 49. The outer ends of the guide.bars 36 and 37 .are connected together by means of a connecting barfiilwhich is secured by fastening devices 51.

The. gear reduction unit 47 is connected with an electric motor 52bymeans of a clutch 53. The clutch 53 is'of conventional construction. Themotor 52 is supported from the front end wall .35 by means of a U-shapedbracket 54.

The trough 24 is formed with a horizontal bottom wall 55 and upwardlydivergent side walls 56. The upper edges of .the side =walls56haveinwardly projecting flanges 57. .The flanges57 engage over downwardlydivergent flanges 58 which :are formed integral with the hopper bottom31, andproject outwardly from the convergent walls 30 of hopper 20.

Thetrough .24has slidably mounted lengthwise there- .of upper and lowerconveyor bars 59 and 60, and bar '60 slidably engages a horizontallydisposed guide bar 61 which has opposite :end plates orbase members 62secured thereto. The base members 62 are secured, as by cement or thelike, to rubber cushion members 63 which are cemented or otherwisesecuredto the bottom 55 of trough 24. The bars 59 and are of anextensible characteristic and each bar is formed at oneend thereof .with.a key 64 engaging insa keeper .65 carried by the opposite end of anadjacent conveyor bar. By providing the key and keeper at the ends ofthe conveyor bars, these bars may be extended as may be desired,depending on the length of the trough 24.

The bars 59 and 60 are held in edgewise contact by means of pairs ofplates 66 which engage on the opposite sides of bars 59 and 60, and theguide bar 61. The plates 66 are secured to the lower conveyor bar 60 byfastening devices 67, and a fastening member or pin 68 is securedbetween the plates 66 and engages over the upper edge of conveyor bar59. The joint between the upper conveyor bars 59 formed by the key 64and keeper 65, is held against disconnection by means of an invertedU-shaped securing member 69 which is secured by fastening devices 70 tothe upper conveyor bar 59. The U- shaped member 69 overlaps the sides ofthe lower conveyor bar 60 so that the adjacent joints of the connectedbars 60 will be held against lateral movement.

The conveyor bars 59 and 60 have rockably mounted on the opposite sidesthereof spaced apart pairs of conveyor blade members generallydesignated as 71. The blade members 71 are formed of a vertical baseplate 72 through which a pivot pin 73 engages and the pin 73 engagesthrough the lower conveyor bar 60. The upper bar 59 is formed with arelatively large opening 74 and a connecting pin 75 extends through thebase members 72 and through the opening '74. Each base plate 72 hasprojecting therefrom a conveyor blade 76 which is adapted on the outwardmovement of the conveyor bars 59 and 60 to be disposed in a verticalposition, as shown in Figure 9, and on the return stroke of the conveyorbars 59 and 60 the blades 76 are disposed in a horizontal idling orinoperative position, as shown in Figure 6.

The conveyor driving bars 43 and 44 are connected with the conveyor bars59 and 60 by means of plates 77 and 78. Plate 77 is secured by fasteningdevices 79 to driving bar 43 and is secured by fastening members 80 toupper conveyor bar 59. Plate 78 is secured by fastening devices 81 todriving bar 44 and is secured by fastening devices t 82 to lowerconveyor bar 60.

Bar 44 has secured thereto a pair of outwardly projecting stop pins 83and 84 so that channel member 45 will have lost motion for apredetermined distance relative to driving bar 44. The lost motionbetween driving bar 44 and channel member 45 is provided so that theconveyor members 71 will be rotated from an operative to an inoperativeposition, and then back to an inoperative position. The movement of bar43 relative to bar 44 is accomplished by providing a pair of spacedapart locking members 85 and 86 which are vertically slidable in lowerguide bar 37 and are constantly urged upwardly to locking position bymeans of springs 87 and 88 respectively. The

lower driving bar 44 has slidable therein a pair of lock releasingmembers 89 and 90, as shown in Figure 3, and

when the driving bars 43 and 44 are at either end of the stroke thereof,locking members 85 and 86 will in sequence be moved upwardly to pushrelease members 89 and 90 upwardly into a channel or cutout 91 which isformed in the lower edge of driving bar 43.

As shown in Figure 3, driving bar 43 is at the end of its return orinoperative stroke relative to the conveyor bars, and also driving bar44 is locked relative to the lower guide bar 37. Movement of driving bar43 to the right, which is the conveying stroke or movement, will effectdownward movement of releasing member 89 so as to move locking member 85downwardly to a released position. When locking member 85 is in itsreleased position, the two driving members 43 and 44 may move togetheras a unit. At this time channel member 45 will be contacting with stopmember 84, and conveyor blades 76 will be disposed in an operativeposition, as shown in Figure 9.

When the conveyor bars 59 and 60 are at the outer end of their conveyingstroke, locking member 86 will be moved upwardly by spring 88 and willpush release member 90 upwardly into cutout 91 which at this time willbe disposed over the release member 90. On the return stroke, channelmember 45 will initially move with driving member 43 without movement ofdriving member 44, until channel member 45 contacts stop pin 83, and atthis time release member 90 will be moved downwardly entirely withindriving member 44 and will push locking member 86 downwardly so thatdriving member 44 may move with driving member 43.

In order to provide for regulated feeding of the material from thehopper 20 through the discharge openings 32 into the trough 24, I haveprovided a pair of elongated vertically disposed valve members or plates92 which are secured by shackles or links 93 to a second elongated andvertically disposed plate 94. Plate 94 is secured by fastening members95 to a depending flange or skirt 96 which extends from the outer edgesof the baffle 33. A plate 97 is also secured in dependent relationbetween the skirt 96 and the shackles 93 so as to relieve the valvemember 92 of the weight of material which is flowing beneath the loweredges of the flanges or skirts 96.

The valve members 92 in their upper or open position are adapted to abutat their upper edges against the lower edges of the plates 94. The valvemembers 92 are constantly urged to a closed position in substantialcontact with the walls 30, by means of springs 98 which are connectedbetween the end fastening members 95 and right angularly disposed andinwardly projecting bumper plates 99 which are secured to the rear endsof the valve members 92. These valve members 92 are held in openposition only for a short time, which time is at the end of the returnstroke of the driving bars 43 and 44.

The valve members 92 are moved to an open position by means of a pair ofhorizontally disposed rods 100 which are carried by laterally projectingsupporting bars 101 projecting from the plates 77 and 78.

In order to prevent the feed from packing up on the bottom wall 31, andin order to provide for free flowing of the feed through the openings32, I have provided a plurality of downwardly projecting fingers 102which are secured to the bars 100 and are formed with extensions 103parallel with the walls 30. The extensions 103 terminate in rightangular extensions 104 which are parallel with the bottom 31, as shownin Figure 2.

The inverted V-shaped baflle 33 has mounted therebelow a pair ofvertically disposed channel forming plates 105 formed with right angularupper flanges 106. The plates 105 form a channel or tunnel 107 withinwhich the connecting plates 78 and 79 slidably engage so that theseplates 78 and 79 will not be obstructed by any feed which will collectbelow the baffle 33 and on the upper side of the bottom 31.

An inverted U-shaped bafile 108 is secured to the lower side of thebottom 31 inwardly from the openings 32 so that the downward flowingmaterial will be directed downwardly and outwardly into the trough 24.The lower conveyor bar 60 has secured thereto within the trough 24, andbelow the inverted baffle 108, a plurality of U-shaped fingers 109.These fingers 109 have vertical sides 110 extending upwardly toward thedischarge openings 32 and on the outer sides of the baffle 108.

In order to provide a means whereby the power member or motor 52 will beautomatically operated so as to maintain the trough 24 substantiallyfilled, I have provided a flexible diaphragm 111 which is mounted in theouter end of the bottom 55 of the trough 24. A liquid switch 112 isconnected by conductors 113 and 114 to the motor 52, and switch 112 isdependingly carried by an L-shaped lever 115 rockably carried by a pivot116. The pivot 116 is carried by depending brackets 117 which aresecured relative to the bottom 55 of the trough 24. The upper horizontalarm 118 of the lever 115 is connected with the diaphragm 111 by means ofa connecting member 119.

A counterbalancing weight 120 is secured to extension 121 projectingoppositely from the arm 118. The diaphragm 111 is normally flexedupwardly by the weight 120 so as to normally rock switch 112 to acircuit closing position. When the material in the trough 24 overliesthe diaphragm 111 to a depth wherein the trough is sub stantiallyfilled, the weight of this material overlying the diaphragm 111 willforce this diaphragm downwardly and switch 112 will be rocked to acircuit breaking position.

In the use and operation of this automatic feeding device the materialis placed in the hopper 20 and assuming that there is little or no feedoverlying the diaphragm 111, switch 112 will be rocked to a circuitclosing position. At this time motor 52 will be operated and drivingbars 43 and 44 will be reciprocated by rotation of crankshaft 46. Ateach reciprocation of the conveyor bars 59 and 60 the material in thetrough 24 will be moved forwardly step-by-step and on the return strokeof the bar 44 with bar 43, valve members 92 will be moved upwardly to anopen position whereby feed from the hopper 20 may flow downwardly intothe trough 24. This feeding device will provide for maintaining anadequate supply of feed in the trough 24 and if the feed should beinitially removed from the outer end of trough 24 so that diaphragm 111may be flexed upwardly so as to rock switch 112 to a circuit closingposition, the motor 52 will only be operated for a sufficient time tomove material already in the trough 24 to an overlying position relativeto the diaphragm 111.

An adjustable stop screw 121 is disposed at each end of the guide bars36 and 37 for engagement by bar 44 to prevent distortion of the locks 85and 86 and to eliminate play in channel member 45.

I do not mean to confine myself to the exact details c constructionherein disclosed, but claim all variations falling within the purview ofthe appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An automatic feeding means comprising a hopper, a trough extendingfrom said hopper, a pair of vertically aligned elongated bars disposedin and extending lengthwise of said trough, oppositely disposed pairs ofconveyor blades pivotally connected to both of said bars, meanssimultaneously reciprocating both said bars, means active at the startof one stroke of said bars for movirone bar relative to the other bar tothereby swing said blades to a vertical conveying position, and meansactive at the start of the return stroke of said bars for moving one barrelative to the other bar to thereby swing said blades to a horizontalinoperative position.

2. An automatic feeding means comprising a hopper, a trough extendingfrom said hopper, a pair of vertically aligned elongated bars disposedin and extending lengthwise of said trough, oppositely disposed pairs ofconveyor blades each pivotally connected to both said bars, meanssimultaneously reciprocating both said bars, means active at the startof one stroke of said bars for moving one bar relative to the other barto thereby swing said blades to a vertical conveying position, meansactive at the start of the return stroke of said bars for oppositel"moving said one bar relative to the other bar to thereby swing saidblades to a horizontal inoperative position, and means carried by saidtrough connected to said operating means and disposed in said troughremote from said hopper for activating said operating means when thetrough is substantially empty, said latter named means rendering saidoperating means inoperative when the trough is substantially filled.

3. An automatic feeding means comprising a hopper, a trough extendingfrom said hopper, a reciprocal conveyor in said trough formed of a pairof vertically aligned elongated bars, means carried by said barssupporting said bars for sliding movement relative to said trough, meansslidably connecting said bars together, an operator connected with oneof said bars, oppositely extending pairs of conveying blades pivotallyconnected between said pair of bars, and spring-pressed locking meanscarried partly by the other one of said bars and partly by said troughfor locking the other one of said bars against movement relative to saidtrough at the end of each stroke, said one bar being formed to effectrelease of said locking means upon initial movement of said one bar atthe beginning of each stroke to thereby rock said blades to operative orinoperative position.

4. An automatic feeding means comprising a hopper, a trough extendingfrom said hopper, a reciprocal conveyor in said trough, said conveyorcomprising upper and lower elongated bars disposed in edgewise position,a guide rail carried by said trough engaging the lower one of said bars,oppositely disposed pairs of conveyor blades, means rockably securingsaid blades to said upper and lower bars, a pair of driving barsparallel with said first named bars, a pair of connecting platesconnected one between a driving bar and an elongated bar, means forreciprocating one of said driving bars, and a last motion connectionbetween said one driving bar and the other driving bar whereby said onedriving bar will initially move independently of the other driving barat the start of the movement in each direction to thereby move saidupper and lower elongated bars relative to each other whereby to rocksaid blades to operative or inoperative position.

5. An automatic feeding means comprising a hopper, a trough extendingfrom said hopper, a reciprocal conveyor in said trough, said conveyorcomprising upper and lower elongated bars disposed in edgewise position,a guide rail carried by said trough engaging the lower one of said bars,oppositely disposed pairs of conveyor blades, means rockably securingsaid blades to said upper and lower bars, a pair of driving barsparallel with said first named bars, a pair of connecting platesconnected one between a driving bar and an elongated bar, means forreciprocating one of said driving bars, guide means for said drivingbars, a pair of spring-pressed locking members carried by said guidemeans, said other driving bar having a pair of keeper openings adaptedfor alternate re istry with said locking members, a pair of releasingpins loosely carried by said other driving bar in said keeper openings,said one driving bar having a cut out within which a releasing pinengages whereby said other bar will be locked relative to said guide andsaid one driving bar may move independently of said other driving bar tothereby effect rocking of said conveying blades to operative orinoperative position, and a pair of spaced stop pins carried by saidother driving bar whereby said other driving bar will move with said onedriving bar after initial independent movement of said one driving bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

